Environmental group slams Trump’s check to National Parks as a ‘publicity stunt’

The Sierra Club is knocking President Trump for donating his first quarter salary to the National Parks Service, calling it a “publicity stunt.”

The White House announced Monday that Trump’s first paycheck of $78,333.32 would go to the parks service. At his press briefing, White House press secretary Sean Spicer handed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke the check.

“If Donald Trump is actually interested in helping our parks, he should stop trying to slash their budgets to historically low levels,” the environmental group’s executive director Michael Brune said in a statement. “This publicity stunt is a sad consolation prize as Trump tries to stifle America’s best idea.”

The donation fulfills an early promise by the Trump administration to donate the president’s salary.

But Brune said Trump’s contribution “falls far short of the $12 billion needed to address the current backlog of park maintenance.”

Bruno’s statement also chided the Trump administration for the proposed cuts to the park service.

Trump’s budget blueprint includes a 11.7 percent cut to the Interior Department, which includes the National Parks Service.

“America’s parks, and the people and economies they support, need real funding, not a giant fake check,” Brune continued. “Parks are a good investment and we must invest now if we want them to be around for our kids.”